Best Bet
by Zully Quirke
Summary: In which Sirius is straightforward, Remus finds it impossible to drink tea and James loses money. SR, Marauders Era. Third part now up!
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: Best Bet  
**Author**: Zully Quirke **Rating**: PG  
**Pairing**: Sirius/Remus  
**Author's Notes**: Just a bit of a flufflet that's been burrowing about in my brain lately. Absolutely shamelessly fluffy and slashy. Haven't decided if I'll add anymore flufflets to it; we'll see on whether or not my muse leaves me after this one. ;p

"Kiss me."

Remus nearly choked on his tea as he turned, spluttering and flushed. "W-what? What on earth are you talking about? Why?"

"To prove yourself right," Sirius said logically, pausing to examine a bit of dirt under his fingernail. "You said you don't fancy me, right?"

Remus gave him a slow, hesitant nod. "That's right."

Leaning forward, Sirius rested his elbows on the ends of his knees. "Then there shouldn't be a problem. You kiss me, you're right, I admit defeat and we move on."

There had to be something logically wrong with this, Remus thought desperately. There had to be some reason why what Sirius just said posed a problem. "Why do you care if I'm right or not?" He challenged. "It's not that big of a deal!"

"Because I fancy you," Sirius spoke without hesitation, as if he'd just stated something as obvious and casual as "My, the sky is blue today!" or "The dirt certainly does seem to be an average shade of brown this morning."

Remus was going to have to give up on his cup of tea he decided shakily, reaching up to dab at his chin once more. He could have sworn a bit had gone through his nose that time as well. "Yo-you.. but.. Sirius, you like girls!" He exclaimed incredulously. "I'm not a girl!"

Sirius was clearly fighting to keep from laughing too hard. "I'm glad you'd noticed that bit," Sirius told him solemnly, "I'd hate to have pointed it out to you and have caught you by surprise." He ducked when Remus scowled and chucked one of his textbooks at him. "Yes, I fancy girls," Sirius admitted, "But I also fancy you. A man can like both, you know."

This clearly unnerved Remus. He was of course aware that one could be attracted to both men and women. It didn't even surprise him that Sirius was -- he'd seen it coming, sort of. Sirius had no bias; he just liked people. He'd had more girlfriends in his six years at Hogwarts than most people did in a lifetime and flirted with both men and women often enough that no one batted an eye at it anymore. They'd all gotten used to him by now, but of course they always thought he'd been joking. Now, Remus knew better.

"But.. I.." Remus protested weakly before sighing and closing his book. Sirius was right; this was the best way to prove he didn't fancy his friend. He would kiss him, there would be nothing, then they could go back to studying for their Herbology exam as if nothing had happened.

Damn Sirius for appealing to Remus's logical side.

Ignoring the twinge of warning in his stomach, Remus scooted a bit closer to Sirius. "Alright," He said finally, squelching the pleasure that curled in his stomach as his brain finally processed the fact that Sirius Black fancied him. Sirius dated many people but rarely actually cared about any of them. "Alright, let's just-- get it over with," He mumbled embarassedly, blowing a bit of shaggy brown hair from his face.

He would never have admitted it, but this was Remus's first kiss. He'd never kissed anyone before, always told himself he was saving it for someone special. The reality of it was he didn't want to kiss someone he wasn't dating and couldn't date anyone who didn't know about his -- condition. Which, of course, complicated things slightly.

So when Sirius's eyelids fluttered shut and he cupped at either of Remus's cheeks, all Remus knew to do was close his eyes and let instinct guide him. Sirius's lips were warm, he noted, and not at all dry. He inhaled loudly when they both found a comfortable position for their lips, easing further into the kiss and not even aware that his own hands had inched forward to clasp at Sirius's waist.

He had no idea how long the kiss had gone on, only that when Sirius finally pulled away he was dizzy and found it a bit difficult to breathe. He had to blink a few times to pull his eyes back up; they seemed unnaturally heavy for some reason.

Sirius, Remus decided, was a very good kisser.

"So?" Sirius said slowly, licking a bit at his lower lip. "What's the verdict?"

Remus opened his mouth as if to speak but much to his suprrise absolutely no sound came out. He frowned and tried again, with much the same result.

Laughing a bit, Sirius leaned forward and placed a short and chaste kiss on Remus's forehead before standing up. "It's okay, you don't have to say anything now. Just tell me when you've made up your mind, okay?"

As Sirius walked out of the room, leaving a very dumbfounded Remus on the couch, James scowled and dug a small handful of coins from his pocket. "Fine, you win," James said sourly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Lily smirked. "Oh, James, it was obvious. Sirius was bound to make his move sooner or later, you know him. I don't know why you took the bet to begin with."

"Out of sheer hope," James said wistfully. "That at least one of my friends didn't fancy men. Who am I supposed to talk to about girls now? Though if you're right about Severus," James added with a shudder, "I'm going to have to gouge my eyes out."

Grinning, Lily clapped James on the back. "Want to head over to the Slytherin showers and find out?" He eyed her skeptically and Lily's grin broadened "I hear Lucius has a bum to die for."


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** Best Bet  
**Author:** Zully Quirke **Rating: **PG  
**Part:** 2/5  
**Pairing:** Sirius/Remus  
**Author's Notes:** My muse strikes again! A second part it is, plus a few more I'm plotting out. Right now I'm thinking there's likely to be five in total. Who knows? By the time I'm finished they might all total to the size of a regular fic! You know you've gotten lazy when you can't even do a one-shot without breaking it down. XD

It was a fairly typical day for Remus Lupin, sitting at the breakfast table scribbling furiously over a roll of parchment while Sirius and James chucked various breakfast items at each other and Lily tried her best to look invisible.

Remus honestly had no idea what she saw in James. Not to knock his friend, of course -- he was overall a very nice person and unendingly sweet when he wanted to be. But--

As if to illustrate his point, Sirius roared in laughter when a quiche landed with a warm splat on James's cheek before slowly sliding down to land on the table. Sirius wasn't laughing long, though, as it proved rather difficult to do with a face full of scrambled eggs.

Remus reached forward to peel a bit of egg from the very stunned Sirius's face as Lily bit at the insides of her cheeks and offered James a napkin for the splattered bits of cheese and bacon from his quiche encounter earlier.

"Why do you two always do this?" Remus asked, having given up on peeling away the egg and settled for wiping it off unceremoniously with Sirius's napkin. "Can't you just eat your food like normal people?"

Sirius grinned as his tongue darted out for a bit of egg. "We are eating! We're just doing it creatively," He insisted as James grinned and did the same.

"That's right! They should thank us, really – we're saving those poor house elves from having to wash more dishes, after all. You should be more considerate, Remus. Honestly."

Sighing and shaking his head, he rolled his eyes heavenward and looked pitifully over at Lily. The two sane ones of the group.

"I don't know either," Lily said as she and Remus gathered their things and left James and Sirius to clean themselves up. "I swear, sometimes I wonder if it's worth putting up with." She added with a hint of good humor.

Remus laughed. "Well, at least there is the fact that you're rather fond of James," He grinned, nudging a now blushing Lily in the side. She hadn't told him yet, of course, but Remus could tell it was only a matter of time before the two gravitated towards each other. They had that pull about them.

"Oh, and you're not at all fond of Sirius, is that it?" She accused, poking Remus in the side. "Admit it! You fancy Sirius just as much as I do James."

His jaw dropped. "I do i not /i ! Lily Evans, where on earth did THAT come from?"

Lily blinked at him in genuine surprise. "You mean you don't-- oh, Remus, you're too precious for words," She laughed, pulling him in for a headlock and noogie.

After a bit of struggling Remus pulled himself from Lily and made a show of straightening his impossibly shaggy hair while attempting to maintain his own composure. That had come out of absolutely nowhere, he thought to himself. Just because he and Sirius were mates he fancied him, was that it?

"I do not," He said smoothly, "Fancy Sirius Black."

She snorted indelicately. "Like hell you don't. Remember everything you pointed out that I did around James? Unconsciously straightened my hair, always sat by him at meals or while studying, paired up with him at Hogsmeade…?"

Remus frowned and coughed. "That.. doesn't mean anything! Friends do the same sorts of things all the time." He insisted stubbornly.

"Oh, right," Lily said, looking thoughtfully upward. "I forgot. The rules and logic of life and love apply to everyone but Remus Lupin. When someone else does something that's a clear indicator of finding them attractive, they fancy them. If Remus does the same things, they are not in fact indicators of attraction but rather of I friendship /I . Silly me."

Remus could think of no reply to this. He stood there, hugging his texts to his chest and suddenly found the stones cobbling the hallway quite interesting.

Shaking her head, Lily tucked her books back under her arm. "Whatever you say, Remus. Whatever you say." She headed down the hall towards her own class, turning to wink at him from over her shoulder. "Just promise to invite me to the wedding?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** Best Bet  
**Author:** Zully Quirke **Rating:** PG  
**Part:** 3/5  
**Pairing:** Sirius/Remus  
**Author's Notes:** And at last, I crank out part three! I have the whole darn thing planned out now, just have to finish jotting it all down on paper now. Or virtual paper, I guess this is. And of course, had to include a little OTP of mine in this. I'm a sucker for James/Lily. Sorry this bit's a little dull; don't worry. Things will pick up in the last two bits. :)

Remus hadn't been able to think straight for the remainder of that day, or even going into the next one. Lily and James both seemed preoccupied (something to do with Snivellus and Lucius, he'd overheard) and Sirius was acting as if nothing had happened. It was business as usual for his best friend, complete with pranks and yowls of laughter and back-clapping.

The only hint he ever gave that he was acknowledging what'd happened at all was a small twinkle in his eye from across the room in Potions, a knowing smile while Remus watched him at Quidditch practice. It made Remus's cheeks flush up even though these could all very well be imagined.

Sirius liked him, and Remus had definitely enjoyed that kiss. It had taken him awhile to come to terms with that idea, but he found that as soon as he had he could quite easily imagine himself doing it again. And again. Amongst other things as well, the thought of which made Remus's cheeks light up like a Christmas tree.

As Quidditch practice ended, Remus climbed down the stands as he always did and headed out towards the locker room doors. He wasn't allowed in as he wasn't a member of the team, but he always waiting for Sirius before they walked back over to the library to finish up their class work.

There was something different about Sirius when he came out of the lockers today though, and it took Remus a good ten solid seconds to figure out that Sirius wasn't wearing a shirt. He had various small scratches along his chest, mostly obtained while in his "other" form. He wasn't bulky, but Sirius was definitely a boy who kept himself in shape.

Sirius raised a quizzical eyebrow. "My eyes are up here, you know," He said casually. "Although now I know how every girl I've ever gone out with feels."

Remus blinked and scowled, grabbing at a nearby towel and tossing it at him. The scowl was mostly for himself, he realized. Staring at Sirius like that, honestly. Like he'd never seen him shirtless before!

"Put your shirt on! We can't go to the library with you half naked, now can we?" Remus accused, carefully not looking anywhere below Sirius's chin.

"Actually I can't go to the library today, that's what I came out here to tell you," Sirius said apologetically. "They're keeping me after for extra practice. We play Slytherin tomorrow, you know. It's a big game."

Oh yeah. Remus had somehow managed to forget about the biggest game of the year at Hogwarts, two rival houses going head to head. Of course Sirius had to stay after today. He shuffled off towards the library alone, a plan storming about furiously in his head. He smiled slowly and picked up his pace a bit; yes, Remus knew exactly what he'd do. It was only a matter of time now.

Meanwhile, James was having to physically restrain Lily from jumping in and "fixing it" for the two of them.

"It's infuriating!" She bellowed, "Those two obviously have it for each other, why don't they just talk to each other and figure it out?"

"Actually," James said, pushing at his glasses a bit, "Sirius kind of already has. He's just waiting for Remus, right?"

Lily nodded her head and folded her arms over her chest. "Right. So all we have to do is lock the two of them in a room and not let them out until Remus admits he feels the same way."

James actually laughed at that, earning him a scowl and a sharp glare from his female counterpart. "Lily, it doesn't work like that! He has to figure it out by himself. When two people like each other, it--" He stopped, flushing a bit as he coughed. "Well. It just has to work itself out, you know?"

This time it was Lily's turn to flush. "I-- yeah, I guess. So we're just going to have to wait and see what happens?"

"Mmhmm," James mumbled as Lily shook her head and sauntered off towards the classroom, not entirely sure they were still talking about Sirius and Remus.


End file.
